National Programme of Clinical Audit and Confidential Enquiries

UK-London: health services

2012/S 140-234173

Contract notice

Services

Directive 2004/18/EC

Section I: Contracting authority

I.1)Name, addresses and contact point(s)

Department of Health
Skipton House, 80 London Road
Contact point(s): Department of Health
For the attention of: Karl Walters
SE1 6LH London
UNITED KINGDOM
E-mail: karl.walters@dh.gsi.gov.uk

Internet address(es):

General address of the contracting authority: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Aboutus/Procurementandproposals/BMS/index.htm

Further information can be obtained from: The above mentioned contact point(s)

Specifications and additional documents (including documents for competitive dialogue and a dynamic purchasing system) can be obtained from: The above mentioned contact point(s)

Tenders or requests to participate must be sent to: The above mentioned contact point(s)

I.2)Type of the contracting authority

Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local sub-divisions

I.3)Main activity

Health

I.4)Contract award on behalf of other contracting authorities

The contracting authority is purchasing on behalf of other contracting authorities: no

Section II: Object of the contract

II.1)Description

II.1.1)Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authority:

National Programme of Clinical Audit and Confidential Enquiries.

II.1.2)Type of contract and location of works, place of delivery or of performance

Services
Service category No 25: Health and social services
NUTS code UKC,UKD,UKE,UKF,UKG,UKH,UKI,UKJ,UKK

II.1.3)Information about a public contract, a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system (DPS)

The notice involves a public contract

II.1.4)Information on framework agreement

II.1.5)Short description of the contract or purchase(s)

The Department of Health (Contracting Authority) is to enter into a full re-tender of its management contract for National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programmes (NCAPOP) and Clinical Outcome Review Programmes (CORP), which ends on 31.3.2013.
This programme of work includes the procurement and management of the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme (NCAPOP) and four National Confidential Enquiries as well as centrally led activities to promote and support national and local clinical audit participation and evaluation of services in the NHS.
An emerging aspect of this programme is the engagement, development and promotion of audit in social care settings.
Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are encouraged to bid for this service.

II.1.6)Common procurement vocabulary (CPV)

85100000, 85121200, 85140000, 85148000

II.1.7)Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

The contract is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA): yes

II.1.8)Lots

This contract is divided into lots: yes
Tenders may be submitted for all lots

II.1.9)Information about variants

Variants will be accepted: no

II.2)Quantity or scope of the contract

II.2.1)Total quantity or scope:

The contract(s) is for a period of 3 years with the ability to extend by up to a further two years in one year increments. During its lifetime the contract will be novated to the NHS Commissioning Board in line with Government policy.
Estimated value excluding VAT:
Range: between 1 200 000,00 and 2 200 000,00 GBP

II.2.2)Information about options

Options: yes
Description of these options: Up to 2 additional years.
Provisional timetable for recourse to these options:
in months: 36 (from the award of the contract)

II.2.3)Information about renewals

This contract is subject to renewal: no

II.3)Duration of the contract or time limit for completion

Duration in months: 36 (from the award of the contract)

Information about lots

Lot No: 1 Lot title: Providing local support for clinical audit in the health and social care sector.

1)Short description

The main focus of this work will be to support NHS commissioned organisations and staff carry out both local and national clinical audit with an additional role in extending audit practice to the social care sector.
Building on existing materials the contractor will provide information on the availability of up-to-date materials and resources to support staff carrying out local and national audit in trusts and with other organisations providing NHS care, for example GP practices. Where appropriate and adequate material or services are not available, the contractor will provide or commission new material.
The contractor will consider ways to engage with and support those who run local audits and who supply data to national audits. The contractor will also consider the need for training resources to support those commissioning and taking part in clinical audit.

2)Common procurement vocabulary (CPV)

85100000, 85121200, 85140000, 85148000

3)Quantity or scope

Over a 3 year period.
Estimated value excluding VAT:
Range: between 600 000,00 and 1 000 000,00 GBP

4)Indication about different date for duration of contract or starting/completion

Duration in months: 36 (from the award of the contract)

5)Additional information about lots

The contractor will be required to manage the budget for the programme of National Clinical Audits delivery. In the year 2012/2013 this will be in the region of 11 400 000 GBP. These funds will be passed through to the audit providers on behalf of the Authority.

Lot No: 2 Lot title: Management of the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme (NCAPOP) and Clinical Outcomes and Review Programme (CORP).

1)Short description

The increasing roles for national clinical audit to underpin quality improvement in the NHS (through redesign, revalidation, regulation, commissioning, reimbursement and risk management) means that National Clinical
Audits (NCAs) must be accurate, rigorous and relevant to the needs of clinicians, patients, managers and commissioners. How the programme of NCA and confidential enquiries is commissioned and contract-managed is vital to ensuring that high quality NCAs and confidential enquiries are delivered.
To achieve this, the contractor will need to have expertise in both clinical audit methodology and public procurement. The Department of Health may in the future undertake some form of NCA, adapted for use in social care settings. This lot will include the management and procurement of up to 40 contracts in the National.
Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme (NCAPOP) and 4 National Confidential Enquiries contracts in the Clinical Outcome Review Programme. The contractor will also be responsible for improving the quality, reviewing output and generally supporting the development of National Clinical Audits and Enquiries.
The contractor will need to show strong leadership in presenting a clear description of national clinical audit and how it relates to other quality improvement initiatives. It will also need to communicate effectively in order to present recent finding and publish reports as well as handle press releases and media enquiries.
The contractor should be knowledgeable about Information Governance requirements and able to fulfil them in terms of their internal processes and outsourcing of the data processing aspects. The contractor, as data controller, will ensure that data handling of audits and confidential enquiries are fully compliant with the Data Protection Act 1998.

2)Common procurement vocabulary (CPV)

85100000, 85121200, 85140000, 85148000

3)Quantity or scope

Over a three year period.
Estimated value excluding VAT:
Range: between 600 000,00 and 1 200 000,00 GBP

4)Indication about different date for duration of contract or starting/completion

Duration in months: 36 (from the award of the contract)

5)Additional information about lots

Section III: Legal, economic, financial and technical information

III.1)Conditions relating to the contract

III.1.1)Deposits and guarantees required:

Parent company or other guarantees may be required in certain circumstances. See the invitation to tender for further details.

III.1.2)Main financing conditions and payment arrangements and/or reference to the relevant provisions governing them:

See the invitation to tender for further details.

III.1.3)Legal form to be taken by the group of economic operators to whom the contract is to be awarded:

Joint and several liability.

III.1.4)Other particular conditions

The performance of the contract is subject to particular conditions: no

III.2)Conditions for participation

III.2.1)Personal situation of economic operators, including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers

Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if the requirements are met: Any supplier may be disqualified who has breached Regulation 23 of the Public Contract Regulations 2006.

III.2.2)Economic and financial ability

Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if the requirements are met: See the invitation to tender for further details.
Minimum level(s) of standards possibly required: See the invitation to tender for further details.

III.2.3)Technical capacity

Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if the requirements are met:
See the invitation to tender for further details.
Minimum level(s) of standards possibly required:
See the invitation to tender for further details.

III.2.4)Information about reserved contracts

III.3)Conditions specific to services contracts

III.3.1)Information about a particular profession

Execution of the service is reserved to a particular profession: no

III.3.2)Staff responsible for the execution of the service

Legal persons should indicate the names and professional qualifications of the staff responsible for the execution of the service: no

Section IV: Procedure

IV.1)Type of procedure

IV.1.1)Type of procedure

Open

IV.1.2)Limitations on the number of operators who will be invited to tender or to participate

IV.1.3)Reduction of the number of operators during the negotiation or dialogue

IV.2)Award criteria

IV.2.1)Award criteria

The most economically advantageous tender in terms of the criteria stated in the specifications, in the invitation to tender or to negotiate or in the descriptive document

IV.2.2)Information about electronic auction

An electronic auction will be used: no

IV.3)Administrative information

IV.3.1)File reference number attributed by the contracting authority:

PZE/003/238

IV.3.2)Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract

Prior information notice

Notice number in the OJEU: 2012/S 108-179655 of 6.6.2012

IV.3.3)Conditions for obtaining specifications and additional documents or descriptive document

Time limit for receipt of requests for documents or for accessing documents: 11.9.2012 – 12:00
Payable documents: no

IV.3.4)Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate

17.9.2012 – 12:00

IV.3.5)Date of dispatch of invitations to tender or to participate to selected candidates

IV.3.6)Language(s) in which tenders or requests to participate may be drawn up

English.
Other: English.

IV.3.7)Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender

in days: 90 (from the date stated for receipt of tender)

IV.3.8)Conditions for opening tenders

Date: 17.9.2012 – 12:00
Persons authorised to be present at the opening of tenders: no

Section VI: Complementary information

VI.1)Information about recurrence

This is a recurrent procurement: no

VI.2)Information about European Union funds

The contract is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: no

VI.3)Additional information

Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are encouraged to bid for this service either as lead contractor with partner organisations, sub-contractor or as part of a bidding consortium (special purpose vehicle).
The Department of Health reserves the right to discontinue the tendering process and not to award the contract.
The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/246) may apply to this procurement. Please note that potential suppliers will be required to sign and return a Non disclosure agreement to be furnished with this information. Potential suppliers will need to contact the Authority through its BMS system (after registration) to request this agreement, then complete and return.
Transparency.
Potential suppliers should note that, in accordance with the Government’s policies on transparency, the.
Department of Health intends to publish the tender documentation, and the Contract awarded, subject to possible redactions at the discretion of the Department of Health. The terms of the proposed Contract will also permit a public sector contracting authority, awarding a contract under this Contract, to publish the text of that contract, subject to possible redactions at the discretion of the contracting authority. Further information on transparency can be found at: http://www.ogc.gov.uk/policy_and_standards_framework_transparency.asp

This procurement exercise will be conducted on the DH eTendering portal at http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Aboutus/Procurementandproposals/BMS/index.htm.

We call this system BMS (Business Management System).
Potential suppliers wishing to be considered for this contract must register their Expression of Interest and download and complete the Open Tender Documentation through the DH eTendering portal (BMS).
Registration is a simple one-step process;
The supplier must register as a company/organisation; then each employee who may undertake a tendering exercise must then register as an individual. Once this stage is completed, it is then possible to register expression of interest for this tender.
Note: Standard BMS functionality will only acknowledge one recipient per supplier for each individual tender. If you require the tender to be seen by multiple users we suggest using a centralised e-mail address (dhtenders@example.com).

Log on instructions are as follows:
Stage 1 – New suppliers.
Those who have not previously contracted with DH will first need to ensure that their company details are registered in the system.
a) Go to the link above
b) Click on ‘New Supplier’
c) Complete and send the details in the automated e-mail that appears
d) Within 3 working days, you will receive an e-mail with your login information; a unique username and password.
Note: Standard BMS functionality requires the registered e-mail address to function as individual’s username.
Post Registration.
Once registered, candidates must express interest as follows.
a) Go to the link above
b) Select ‘Login into e-Tendering System’
c) Select sourcing home page and enter Expression of Interest number [xxxxx] in search field provided.
d) Select radio button and click on quick link to express interest, review documentation and upload your response.
e) You must then publish your reply using the publish button.
For any support in submitting your Open Tender Documentation please contact the eTendering Help-desk at +44 1132545777.
This helpdesk is available 9:00am to 4:00pm, Monday to Friday.
Please Note: Registration on the DH secure portal is not entering onto a preferred supplier list. Registration is solely to be able to interact with the Department electronically.

VI.4)Procedures for appeal

VI.4.1)Body responsible for appeal procedures

High Court
The Strand – London
London
UNITED KINGDOM

VI.4.2)Lodging of appeals

Precise information on deadline(s) for lodging appeals: The Department of Health will incorporate a standstill period at the point information about the actual award of the contract is communicated to tenderers. That notification will provide full information on the award decision. The standstill period, which will be for a minimum of 10 calendar days, provides time for unsuccessful tenderers to challenge the award decision before the contract is entered into.
The Public Contracts Regulations 2006 (SI2006 No 5) provide for aggrieved parties who have been harmed or are at risk of harm by breach of the rules to take action in the High Court.

VI.4.3)Service from which information about the lodging of appeals may be obtained

VI.5)Date of dispatch of this notice:20.7.2012